Bengaluru police on Friday registered an unnatural death report (UDR) in the death of businessman CJ Roy, who allegedly shot himself in his office while Income Tax officials were completing the formalities of a raid, even as his family blamed pressure from the raiders for the incident.
CJ Babu, brother of Mr. Roy, blamed income tax officials for the death after the incident. However, TA Joseph, managing director of Confident Group, who filed the complaint, did not directly blame or implicate the IT department, though he mentioned past raids and expressed suspicion, sources said.
The Ashok Nagar police registered the UDR under Section 194(3)(4) of the BNSS, 2023, which mandates police investigation into suspicious, accidental or suicidal deaths.
Incident
In his complaint, Mr. Joseph said that Mr. Roy went with him to the office to record his statement to the IT department, after which they went to his cabin. A few minutes later, Mr. Roy said he wanted to speak to his mother. When Mr. Joseph returned after 10 minutes, the security guard outside the cabin told him that Mr. Roy had instructed him not to let anyone inside.
However, when Mr Roy did not come out for more than 20 minutes and did not respond to calls, people in the office broke down the door and found him dead in his chair.
Police sources said Mr. Roy shot himself by holding a pistol to his chest. The incident occurred on Friday between 3:00 PM and 3:15 PM. He was taken to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him “brought dead”.
Investigations revealed that Mr Roy owned a licensed pistol which he used. The weapon was sent for ballistics testing. The police seized Mr Roy’s mobile phones. No death certificate was found inside the cabin.
He came to Bengaluru to record the statement
Mr. Roy, who was based in Dubai, had visited Bengaluru three days before the incident after being summoned by the Income Tax department to record his statement in connection with the raid on his company.
Talking to reporters on Saturday, Home Minister G. Parameshwara said the IT department had raided Mr. Roy’s company in December 2025. “Apparently they (IT officials) were asked to compulsorily complete the process of charging fees within 60 days. That is why they wanted to complete everything by February 4,” he said.
Mr. Parameshwara said he had ordered the police to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the events before and after the incident and to probe what prompted Mr. Roy to take the extreme step. It is said that the police will decide on the summons of the IT officials based on what comes out of the investigation.
Mr. Babu told the media that his brother had no enemies, received no death threats and was not suffering from depression. He added that the only issue he was aware of was an investigation by the IT department.
Meanwhile, several politicians claimed that the targeted raids by the IT department created fear and amounted to “harassment”. However, Mr. Parameshwara said that it is yet to be ascertained and therefore cannot be speculated on.
(If you are in distress or suicidal, please contact these 24/7 helplines: KIRAN at 1800-599-0019 or Arogya Sahayavani at 104.)
Published – 31 Jan 2026 21:32 IST
